Cyrus Christie appears to have been given the nod for his return to City’s starting line-up tonight while two more Academy kids have been called into the squad.

The Sky Blues will be without suspended midfielder John Fleck and loan striker Jamar Loza, who is not being allowed to play in the FA Cup by his parent club Norwich who don’t want him cup-tied.

“Cyrus has been one of our best performers and outstanding for me since I have come to the club, and a big player in the relative success we’ve had so he’s likely to figure in the starting line-up,” said manager Steven Pressley, who will give Adam Barton his first start in his preferred central midfield position.

“Adam is a player I rate extremely highly and he’s been patiently waiting in the wings, so this is his chance and I am sure he’ll show everyone what a good player he is.

“He hasn’t been missing out because of bad performances, he’s been missing out because of great performances of the two in the side.”

Despite Billy Daniels being on course to return after his hernia operation last week, it looks as if he will miss out, opening the door for more fresh blood to come into the squad.

“Billy trained yesterday but there’s a slight problem and the game might come too early,” said Pressley.

“We’ve added a couple of young players, 16-year-old George Thomas and 17-year-old Courtney Baker-Richards, who come into the reckoning and it could be that 11 of the 18 players are Academy players, which is wonderful.

“They are both attacking players. Courtney is a big physical No.9 with good speed and young George can play off the right or the No.10 position, so both give us attacking options.”